Oct 16, 2019

Romney on Pence meeting with Turkey's Erdogan: "It's too late"

Zachary Basu

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) attacked President Trump's decision to send a delegation to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over Turkey's invasion of Syria, telling NBC reporters on Wednesday that it's "too late for this kind of conversation."

"It's very hard to understand why it is the vice president and secretary of state and others are going to talk with Erdogan and Turkey... It's like the farmer who lost all his horses and goes to now shut the barn door."

Why it matters: Romney is one of several top Republicans who have condemned Trump's original decision to move U.S. troops out of northern Syria, paving the way for Turkey to lead a military offensive against Kurdish forces that allied with the U.S. in the fight against ISIS.

Trump has hit Turkey with sanctions and is operating under the assumption that Erdogan's position will change if and when Turkey’s economy starts suffering, administration officials tell Axios.
But some allies of the president think it's too little, too late: "[Trump] will have American blood on his hands if he abandons Kurds because ISIS will come back," Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters Wednesday. "And if any American is killed anywhere because a resurgent ISIS, it will fall on Trump administration like it did Obama."

Go deeper: Turkey's Erdogan walks back refusal to meet with Pence and Pompeo

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Romney on Pence meeting with Turkey's Erdogan: "It's too late"

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